Health Profession Highlight: Nurse Anesthetist

It's day 3 of Health Professions Week! Today's career feature is nurse anesthetist!

Job description: 

Certified registered nurse anesthetists are advanced practice nurses who safely provide more than 40 million anesthetics for surgical, obstetrical and trauma care each year in the United States. They administer every type of anesthetic, work in every type of practice setting and provide care for every type of operation or procedure – from open-heart surgery to pain management programs.

Nurse anesthetists provide anesthetics to patients in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists and other qualified health care professionals. As advanced practice registered nurses, they are given a high degree of autonomy and professional respect. In rural hospitals, nurse anesthetists are often the sole provider of anesthesia. 

Prerequisites/ Education required: 

To become a nurse anesthetist, you must first become a registered nurse (RN) with a Bachelor of Science degree and at least one year of experience in an acute care setting.

The next step is to apply to and be accepted by an accredited nurse anesthesia program.These graduate programs range in length from two to three years. The classroom curriculum emphasizes anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, biochemistry, chemistry, physics and pharmacology.

Job outlook: The job outlook for this career is good with an average salary of $157K-214K. This career is a unique opportunity to build on a nurse degree to gain autonomy and play an important role in the healthcare team!